The Touchdown on Tour in Texas: Ep 1 - Houston @ UTSA

Arriving at the Alamodome in San Antonio on Saturday morning, I was enthusiastic about the potential of the game I was there to see. The Houston Cougars, ranked #24, were set to face a UTSA Roadrunners squad who themselves had been ranked at times last year, and would probably fall somewhere in the 30-40 range if the rankings went that high. Both teams went 12-2 last year, and are located in big, populous cities, with (relatively) little competition for a wider fanbase. UTSA are not going to be affected by UIW or Trinity, and Houston will always be a bigger program than Rice and Texas-Southern.

And yet, in the state of Texas, naturally it’s UT, A&M, and even Texas Tech who get the recognition more often than not, with UTSA, Houston, and SMU being that tier below. That said, both teams (and SMU), appear to be on the precipice of potentially being regular Top 25 teams. Houston, under Dana Holgorsen, have certainly been in and around that for a few years now, and UTSA have started to progress steadily towards the same standard. So with all that considered… I felt like I was in for a bit of a treat… perhaps a hidden gem of a game this weekend… I had no idea how right I was going to be.

Pre-game, the tailgates were plentiful and loud outside the stadium, as fans gathered from as early as 10am to get ready for the big game. Once inside, the Houston fans were in fine voice, with their band loudly playing the Cougars onto the field. The Alamodome was… about 85% full? The top deck was blocked off, but if anything that helped keep the noise from the fans condensed and intense. What started off at a glacial pace, morphed into a back and forth thriller that was definitely one of the most entertaining, chaotic, and dramatic games on this College Football Week 1 Saturday.

Both teams’ opening possessions resulted in 3 and outs, with Houston’s Jayce Rogers leading the fierce pursuit of the Cougars. In fact, after the first quarter had expired, the Roadrunners had amassed a mere 22 yards of total offense, and didn’t appear to have found any semblance of rhythm. You could, therefore, have been forgiven for worrying about UTSA early on, and especially once Houston got a drive together and took the lead.

Nathaniel Dell was a highlight whenever Houston got him the ball, it just didn’t happen enough in the 1st half (or the entirety of the game to be completely honest). He had an ELECTRIFYING punt return TD negated by a… questionable “block in the back” call that kept the game scoreless early in the 1st quarter. But, early in the 2nd, Clayton Tune found Dell for his lone grab of the 1st half, running free in the corner of the endzone, and Houston drew first blood. 7-0.

That sparked the Roadrunners into life however, as a pair of long touchdowns turned the game on its head. First, Frank Harris found Joshua Cephus, who managed to make two Cougar DBs crash into each other, allowing Cephus the freedom of the park to scythe his way through an empty secondary and tie the game. Then, Harris said “I’ll do it myself,” with a 38 yard scramble up the middle to give the Roadrunners the lead. Houston was certainly not gonna have it all their own way. The half ended almost exactly opposite to how it started with Houston struggling to gain ground, and the Alamodome rapturous with applause for their 

After the break, UTSA continued to have all the momentum, with a quick 3 and out from the Cougars giving the Roadrunners a chance to extend their lead to two scores. Zakhari Franklin dropped what would have been an easy 1st down on 4th and 1 in UH territory, meaning Houston took the ball back… but they could do little with it – which was a consistent theme of the game.

De’Corian Clark made a wonderful over-the-shoulder grab from Harris’ lofted pass and UTSA broke into a 21-7 lead with a little over 4 minutes to play in the 3rd. But, strangely, that threat of the game almost fully getting away from them sparked the Cougars into life. Finally, Houston remembered they WERE actually allowed to progress the ball and drove it down to the UTSA 5yd line. A false start threatened to derail their chances, but Tune showed poise in the pocket to wait for the aforementioned Dell to get free for his 2nd TD catch of the day. Houston’s band struck up a tune to try and generate something for their team… and it worked! Frank Harris was hit (and probably should have got a flag) as he tried to throw, the ball popped up and Nelson Ceaser was there to snag it and take it down to the UTSA 20. One play later, Joseph Manjack IV made an incredible juggling catch in the endzone and, unbelievably, the game was tied at 21 with 12 minutes to play. At this point, I basically had to reconsider everything I’d written in this article, as I had been ready and willing to close the casket lid on Houston, only for Holgorsen’s men to rally from literally nothing and score 14 points in 2 minutes and 35 seconds.

Neither team then managed much in their next couple of drives, before Houston did string some positive plays together, and were moving into position for a potential game-winning Field Goal. UTSA burned their final timeout trying to get a stop on 3rd and 5, but the elusive  Tune scrambled for a 1st and allowed the Cougars to keep bleeding time off the clock. Bubba Baxa (one of a number of incredible names on these two rosters) was entrusted with the Field Goal try, and he absolutely nailed it. 

What followed was a truly remarkable sequence of plays that enabled UTSA to cover nearly 50 yards in about 21 seconds, as both Cephus & Oscar Cardenas made huge catches to give UTSA a chance to send it to OverTime… and they did! Remarkably. Jared Sackett’s game-tying Field Goal as time expired sent the Alamodome BONKERS. I really wish this moment had led to a UTSA victory, as the drive Harris orchestrated was exceptional in both its construction and execution, with so little room for error.

OT arrived, and both teams were held to FGs in the first stanza. Nathaniel Dell once again made an insane grab to secure the 2pt conversion, and give Houston an 8 point lead. UTSA SOMEHOW managed to get another Touchdown from Clark, and a Harris run for the 2pt conversion. Both teams’ “never say die” spirit was truly impressive.

At this stage I had basically started to re-write my article for a THIRD time, as I constantly flip-flopped back and forth between what I thought the outcome was going to be. It was – truly – a crazy game. We headed to 3OT, and the intriguing 2pt shootout. Clayton Tune made THE play of the game, scrambling to his right and twisting, leaping, barrelling into the endzone to give Houston what would be the pivotal final lead. UTSA’s try ended with an incomplete pass, as Harris was hurried and couldn’t find an open man. The Roadrunners begged for a flag, but none was forthcoming. Cue huge noise from the Houston contingent in the stands as the Cougar players spilled onto the field. Holgorsen would later confirm on Twitter is was “a bad night to be a Red Bull & Vodka” (shout out PFT Commenter), and the Cougars escaped to a 1-0 start.

Overall, the Alamodome experience was a great one. Two intriguing programs, battling for  national recognition. The Cougars came in with a lot of expectation and, to put it bluntly, totally failed to justify that. The Roadrunners players, coaches and fans were ruthless and relentless throughout. Sure, there were much bigger games in the College Football landscape this weekend, and there are bigger programs in Texas than UTSA, but this honestly felt like a marquee matchup, especially with how the game turned out.

This would have been a massive win for the Roadrunners program. UTSA had A LOT of recruits visiting specifically for this game, and it’s hard to imagine why any of their recruits would not still be enthused after seeing this performance, on this stage, in this arena. The defending Conference-USA Champions were deserving of the victory for the majority of 3 quarters of this game, but the 4th really bit them. Houston had no momentum, down 21-7, but rallied impressively and took advantage of the break they got, where the interception fell into their hands, and there was no roughing the passer call for the hit to Harris’ head. The Cougars’ resilience however, must be praised. They could easily have folded midway through the second half, but fought on and managed to find a path to an improbable Victory. Either way, keep your eyes on the Roadrunners… this program is going places. What a game. How good is it to have football back?!

Feature Image Credit: Eric Gay (Associated Press)

Callum Squires

NFL / CFB ANALYST

CALLUM IS FROM LONDON, BUT PLAYED COLLEGE SOCCER AT TRINITY UNIVERSITY IN SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS, WHERE HE LEARNED NEVER TO CHEER FOR THE COWBOYS. CALLUM IS A LONG-SUFFERING DOLPHINS FAN WHO BELIEVES THE TUA HYPE. NOW BACK STATESIDE, HIT HIM UP ON TWITTER @CALLUMJDSQUIRES!

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